Planned Fan Protest

We are aware of the protest being planned for the upcoming televised WBA game and are not at all surprised at this move to enable and express supporters’ current views on the state of our club.

We also fully understand that the BWFC supporters’
growing concerns about the very future of the club are now turning into anger
in light of the recent online and social media articles, posts and exchanges
over recent days.

As people will appreciate, we have attempted to engage Mr
Anderson in meaningful dialogue during the whole period of his ownership of
BWFC. However, as recently documented in his refusal to meet with us or
consider our Memorandum of Understanding proposal, it has become crystal clear
that Mr Anderson continues to be unwilling to engage in such a dialogue.

It is sad that relationships between the owner and large
numbers of concerned BWFC supporters have deteriorated to such a level that
organised protests are now on the agenda. However, the current stance of the
owner, allied to his reluctance to engage with the lifeblood of BWFC, the
supporters, has now, somewhat inevitably, moved matters to this next phase.

Whilst feelings are now running high, all we would ask is
that any supporters intending to become involved in the protest use the opportunity
to fully express their concerns in a loud and clear manner, whilst maintaining
the dignity, respect and standing of BWFC that has been built up over all our
lifetimes.

In the meantime, the BWFCST will continue with our
attempts to engage with the owner, whilst at all times having the long term
sustainability of the club and it’s remaining assets as the main focus.

Peter

February 10, 2019 (3:22 PM)

I think the fan protests worked quite well. The march round the ground seemed peaceful and the tennis ball “invasion” was short lived but visible to TV cameras. Those actions highlighted fans displeasure with Ken Anderson.

In my view however, there is another issue that fans can take action on, namely Phil Parkinson. Some, including Alan Gowling seem to think he is doing a fine job in difficult circumstances. Others, including me, that have to watch the dross served up week after week have a different view.

The failure of his management is highlighted in our points total so far, dwindling attendance, the way some squad members seem to be frozen out apparently because they are not training well enough e.g. Erhan Oztumer and Mark Little and tactics that include playing long to a lone forward who does not have the physique or technique to bring the ball down and hold it until support arrives.

Could you organise another protest, asking fans to send a letter to Phil Parkinson encouraging him to resign and let someone else (David Lee or Julian Darby) try and prevent the relegation which seems certain at the moment?

Ask fans to keep the letters polite, pose a question that invites an answer e.g. “I’m sure you are a decent man and want the best for BWFC, but you don’t have the answers, the football you ask the team to play is neither effective or entertaining. Is it time to let someone else have a go, and resign your post? I await your response with interest.”

My question is just a suggestion, fans should be free to ask their own.

It would also be a good idea to publish a tracker/survey on your web site for fans to indicate whether they have sent a letter and indeed if an acknowledgement or response has been received within say, 10 days. Being able to say for example that 1000 letters had been sent but only n acknowledgements and m responses received is powerful message. Accordingly the letter should also state that the Supporters Trust is keeping track of the number of letters sent by fans, acknowledgements and answers received and will publish the results. Asking fans to input their membership number should keep the level of false replies to a minimum.

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A Supporters’ Trust is a democratic, not-for-profit organisation of supporters, committed to strengthening the voice for supporters in the decision making process at a club, and strengthening the links between the club and the community it serves. It is independent to the football club.